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Hasbro laying off Wizards of the Coast staff is baffling

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Re: Hasbro laying off Wizards of the Coast staff is baffling

#111

Post by dathinab »

ramesh31 wrote: post #83

Can't new MtG sets literally be generated perfectly with AI now? Might be behind a lot of this. Looks like the layoffs were pretty heavy on the art department: https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/18ij198/list_of_kn... Reminds me of the transition from classical animation to CGI. It used to take teams of hundreds of animators to make a film simply because of the sheer amount of work to be done. Whole career path…

> Can't new MtG sets literally be generated perfectly with AI now?

no not quite

you can generate cards sure

but for a set to work you need more then just random generated cards

especially if you want it to go well

or if you want to continue to have success with crossovers where the choices of mechanics should synagize not just with the set in general but with the lore from the cross over, something mtg somewhat managed to do quite well for multiple of their cross over sets in the recent years

but a lot of the current AI is really bad at getting any of this broader context right

and there is the broader balancing both for draft, commander, balancing prices, reprints etc.

Similar while there are always examples of AI are being extremely well made, most of it has subtle but clear signs it's AI art. That's not necessary bad art, but clearly different art. And a lot of the mtg players I did now over the years cared about the art quite a bit and would probably be very unhappy if it becomes AI art.

I think for a lot of magic players AI generated cards (with similar price gauging selling structures as the current cards) might very well be the last straw causing them to exit the game.

EDIT: Additionally AFIK you can't really copyright AI art in the US which would be a major problem for them.

Re: Hasbro laying off Wizards of the Coast staff is baffling

#112

Post by hotpotamus »

quadrifoliate wrote: post #108
bsdpufferfish wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Accept that your job can disappear at anytime and for any reason, no matter how loyal you are. Your sense of security should come from your confidence in getting work if needed.

This is more acceptable as a solution in a situation where your and your family's literal access to healthcare is not dependent upon your not getting laid off. Healthcare costs on the "open" market are enough to drive even families that think of themselves as well-off into poverty. One of the reasons that a single-payer healthcare system didn't take off in the 15 years between 2008 and now has been that the current s…

Unemployment is actually at record lows now; it's just the tech industry seeing massive layoffs probably due to a ZIRP bubble popping.

The indignities of the system are already well-known to the majority of people who don't have 6-figure work from home jobs. You'd think a single-payer system would be more popular, but that is not what people seem to prioritize. Instead it seems that they vote ever more to cut social safety nets (though I think they really vote for cultural reasons and right-wing politicians use their grievances to serve the wealthy).

> Even on death’s doorstep, Trevor was not angry. In fact, he staunchly supported the stance promoted by his elected officials. “Ain’t no way I would ever support Obamacare or sign up for it,” he told me. “I would rather die.” When I asked him why he felt this way even as he faced severe illness, he explained: “We don’t need any more government in our lives. And in any case, no way I want my tax dollars paying for Mexicans or welfare queens.”[0]

[0]https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/jonathan-m-metzl-dying...

Re: Hasbro laying off Wizards of the Coast staff is baffling

#113

Post by rndmwlk »

dmix wrote: post #97
blobbers wrote: post #85

“now it’s a union shop in the same state as Wizards” - regarding unions is it considered a good thing? I still think of it as a crony workplace where only age is promoted and not merit. Am I wrong? Only did union job at a grocery store (UFCW)

I worked at a unionized job as a teenager at an industrial plant and I asked how to get hired for real instead of temping and he explained how unions worked there and other plants in town. He said it's extremely neoptistic, they'd usually hire a kid of one of the workers or a friend and the odds of an outsider getting in was thin. They dealt out jobs like a mafia family.

I have a few friends in the trades, all part of a union, and none of them would echo this sentiment.

It's also funny because this is the exact same sentiment people complain about with the corporate world, where it's more about who you know than what you know.

Re: Hasbro laying off Wizards of the Coast staff is baffling

#114

Post by disgruntledphd2 »

rtkwe wrote: post #100
solardev wrote: post #84

This is the same Hasbro that tried to retroactively close off the D&D Open Game License (and thus the third party ecosystem). It was a massive betrayal that caused a ton of pushback: https://www.theguardian.com/games/2023/jan/12/dungeons-and-d... They also sell so many overpriced kits with not much going on in them (just a few pieces of paper, not enough dice, sub par instructions ). Or really expensive character toy…

Also their recent move to 3-book + DM screen sets is really annoying. They did it first with Spelljammer's rerelease into 5e and I think the oceanic thirst for Spelljammer content might have sent them the wrong signal about the popularity of the actual content which was pretty thin for the amount you paid for it with notable missing rules like long range travel... for the space setting.

OMG they rereleased spelljammer? Brb, gotta go buy some DND books.

Which is to say, I am clearly part of the problem here.

Re: Hasbro laying off Wizards of the Coast staff is baffling

#115

Post by bugglebeetle »

dumpsterlid wrote: post #88
solardev wrote: post #84

This is the same Hasbro that tried to retroactively close off the D&D Open Game License (and thus the third party ecosystem). It was a massive betrayal that caused a ton of pushback: https://www.theguardian.com/games/2023/jan/12/dungeons-and-d... They also sell so many overpriced kits with not much going on in them (just a few pieces of paper, not enough dice, sub par instructions ). Or really expensive character toy…

We just need to move on from DnD to other IPs at this point, it is absurdly clear that everyone putting all their eggs in the basket with wizards of the coast and it is just a bad idea. There are plenty of fantastic alternatives, we really don’t need the DnD universe. I mean, as highly acclaimed as BG3 is, people in general seem to feel that the dev’s previous game Divinity Original Sin 2 has better combat mechanics……

> Divinity Original Sin 2 has better combat mechanics

While I think the combat in 5E combat in BG3 is fairly simple by comparison, DOS2 combat was definitely not better. All combat devolved into status effect versions of “the floor is lava” and a lot of builds become unviable late game.

Re: Hasbro laying off Wizards of the Coast staff is baffling

#116

Post by solardev »

dragontamer wrote: post #110
solardev wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a beginner, I think the drafts are a really unfriendly format that heavily biases experienced players (who know how different mechanics can combo each other, useful counters, deck balance, etc. by heart). I tried that with friends a few times but it was like trying to learn a new game every time, as fast as possible, so you can out-pick the cards before someone else grabs them. Personally I felt it shifted the gam…

It sounds like you don't know what to look for in Drafts. On the 1st cycle, decks are passed to your right. Remember which colors are getting passed to you, especially on turn 7+ in the Draft. this tells you which colors players on your left are _NOT_ going. On the 2nd cycle, booster-packs are passed to your left. Same same, you're getting information from the other side of the table, so you know what to hate-draft (…

> It sounds like you don't know what to look for in Drafts.

[snip]

Yeah, exactly. It's that whole meta-game I have zero interest in (competitive card-picking, as opposed to competitive card-playing). Just different strokes for different folks and all that.

> I'd say the main problem with Draft is the unbalanced nature of it all. [...] But if everyone at the table is of roughly the same skill level, its a great format.

That makes sense, especially in MTG where there are like 20,000 cards to choose from. The P2W can definitely come out.

Ironically that's actually one of the reasons I prefer another card game, Elder Scrolls: Legends (https://bethesda.net/game/legends), a Morrowind/Oblivion-themed digital card game that's technically "collectible", but they stopped making new cards a few years ago. Now it's just the same set of a few hundred old cards, but people still keep coming up with new metas without spending any more money. It's awesome, and there are no new overpowered cards to be surprised by, just interesting new uses of them. Despite having been technically abandoned, the community is still very active (no more than 20-30 seconds to find a match, which is sometimes faster than even MTG Arena!)

I feel like MTG suffered the opposite fate, where it became a victim of its own runaway success, and draft was popularized amongst older players who got sick of trying to keep up with the incessant power creep. Is that fair?

Re: Hasbro laying off Wizards of the Coast staff is baffling

#117

Post by dragontamer »

solardev wrote: post #116
dragontamer wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds like you don't know what to look for in Drafts. On the 1st cycle, decks are passed to your right. Remember which colors are getting passed to you, especially on turn 7+ in the Draft. this tells you which colors players on your left are _NOT_ going. On the 2nd cycle, booster-packs are passed to your left. Same same, you're getting information from the other side of the table, so you know what to hate-draft (…

> It sounds like you don't know what to look for in Drafts. [snip] Yeah, exactly. It's that whole meta-game I have zero interest in (competitive card-picking, as opposed to competitive card-playing). Just different strokes for different folks and all that. > I'd say the main problem with Draft is the unbalanced nature of it all. [...] But if everyone at the table is of roughly the same skill level, its a great format…

> Now it's just the same set of a few hundred cards, but keep still come up with new metas without spending more money.

That's called a "Cube" in Magic the Gathering.

https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/feature/building-your-firs...

https://mtg.fandom.com/wiki/Cube_Draft

We draft Cubes from our old collections all the time, to help recycle our older cards.

> That makes sense, especially in MTG where there are like 20,000 cards to choose from. The P2W can definitely come out. > Now it's just the same set of a few hundred cards, but keep still come up with new metas without spending more money.

A typical Draft's card pool is only ~300ish cards or so, whatever is in the newest set. Its actually small enough to memorize.

You don't draft booster-cards from all of MtG. A Draft is innately around the ~300ish cards of some set. Lost Caverns of Ixalan only consists of 291 cards.

Re: Hasbro laying off Wizards of the Coast staff is baffling

#118

Post by SSLy »

disgruntledphd2 wrote: post #114
rtkwe wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also their recent move to 3-book + DM screen sets is really annoying. They did it first with Spelljammer's rerelease into 5e and I think the oceanic thirst for Spelljammer content might have sent them the wrong signal about the popularity of the actual content which was pretty thin for the amount you paid for it with notable missing rules like long range travel... for the space setting.

OMG they rereleased spelljammer? Brb, gotta go buy some DND books. Which is to say, I am clearly part of the problem here.

E-mail me at the profile, don’t give wotc money.

Re: Hasbro laying off Wizards of the Coast staff is baffling

#119

Post by saiya-jin »

DonHopkins wrote: post #103
solardev wrote: post #84

This is the same Hasbro that tried to retroactively close off the D&D Open Game License (and thus the third party ecosystem). It was a massive betrayal that caused a ton of pushback: https://www.theguardian.com/games/2023/jan/12/dungeons-and-d... They also sell so many overpriced kits with not much going on in them (just a few pieces of paper, not enough dice, sub par instructions ). Or really expensive character toy…

It's like Oracle buying Sun. We just need to move on from Java to other languages at this point.

You sir go wherever you want but please leave Java to professionals that make companies just work (TM). Yes its not ultra fashionate with all new features in some other languages (but improving constantly), but TBH I don't care, at all, I can work till retirement with Java 8 and be very happy, at the end its just a tool to solve problems and darn good one.

Proper quality engineering is delivering good robust solutions to companies, and Java is great for that in many many aspects, moreso than most other platforms. And who steers it, that's a question I couldn't care less about, just keep it working as expected, completely cross-compatible across all platforms and all previous version (looking at ya Microsoft, that clusterfuck with 'MS Visual C++ redistributable' requiring 20+ sometimes conflicting installations, often ending up in games not working at all even if required version is present - that's just bad engineering, they don't even have solid internal registry to prevent these FUBARs requiring full clean reinstall of Windows).

Re: Hasbro laying off Wizards of the Coast staff is baffling

#120

Post by prakhar897 »

thinly related but i could really use some advice.

There's a board game called "quoridor" that I've been playing a lot lately. I found 2 platforms where u can play this online, major one being BGA (boardgamearena). It was kinda sad to see a game on par with chess in terms of simplicity and strategy, being lumped into the same group as kids games.

So, I started building a platform for it myself in my free time. Still a work in progress (https://li-quoridor.vercel.app/).

The issue is that I have no clue if the game mechanics are copyrighted or not. The wiki says "By 1997, the five biggest game companies in the world (including Gigamic) American bought the copyright [clarify] of this game and released it to the world". But wiki itself acknowleges that this is a statement has no source. So, how do i go about making sure i have the right permissions to build this stuff, and will they even give these permission or not?

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